Canadian Heritage Committee on March 22nd, 2018

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, gentlemen, for letting Mrs. Ntap have the floor.

I think we have a very interesting panel.

We have with us today museum representatives at the national and provincial levels. We also have with us representatives of the Canadian Federation of Friends of Museums, in other words, museum volunteers. Also here is someone who represents a small, entirely local, museum with national ambitions. That's unusual. Quickly, I'd like to take advantage of the expertise each and everyone of you has.

Mr. Basseches, you talked about endowment funds. It's something that's come up repeatedly, and we will no doubt keep it in mind. Every museum institution could, in fact, benefit from an endowment fund, like symphony orchestras and other such organizations.

Mr. Moulding, you talked about how museums were a special draw for people, generating tourism. The comments of both you and your colleagues, as volunteer representatives, show just how much support can come from people who are passionate about a cause.

That brings me to Mrs. Ntap and the Musée de la Femme. I did indeed have a chance to visit some of the museum's exhibits. I was able to see Mrs. Ntap's determination in action, and her charismatic ability to encourage people to take part in exhibitions and be part of the team, despite often challenging conditions.

Something you said really struck me. It was a proposal I hadn't heard until now. You said that, if the government recognizes the legitimacy of a museum's existence, the government should give that museum a guaranteed minimum revenue. The government shouldn't recognize an institution and then expect it to survive on a wing and a prayer.

Is that indeed what you were saying?

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

That's entirely correct.

Although I'm very glad to be here today to tell you about our museum, at the end of the day, it is funded by money we, ourselves, put in for the common good. The museum, which is located in Longueuil, has a reserve fund and receives wonderful donations. That said, for the past five years, my family and I have been putting $750 a month towards preserving our common female heritage. That's unthinkable, and something needs to be done.

You said that our museum had national ambitions. I should tell you that our ambitions are actually international. It's straightforward. The Musée de la Femme is recognized internationally. I have taken three paid trips to give talks on the curatorial approach I described earlier, our avant-guard or experimental approach. In fact, I consider that international recognition to be my pay.

The reason I care so much about the museum is that I founded it. If I was just a member of the board, the connection I feel might be different. Because I believe in this initiative, I put my heart and soul into the Musée de la Femme, using precisely those qualities that set women apart. That is how we reach everyone.

Through our curatorial approach, we are able to reach everyone, because the visitor becomes an actor and is no longer a spectator. I like to say that the focus of the museum is the visitor, the public. There is no doubt that the public, the people, and the community make up the foundation on which the museum rests. They are the ones who have the museum's well-being at heart.

We can't always start over again and look for sponsors and partners. Each of us, being born of a mother—biological or otherwise—has that responsibility, the duty to take ownership of institutions that tell the story of women. That is all the more crucial in the current climate. At the museum, we've built a permanent exhibit around the quote “Too many women in too many countries speak the same language—of silence.” Their reflex is to give up the floor, the opportunity to speak. The exhibit is a space for empowerment.

When we ask the ministry of health and social services for funding, people ask us what our museum has to do with health and social services. Most of our visitors are seniors, so we also contribute to social reintegration. In fact, some organizations send individuals who are rehabilitating or doing community service to the museum. For instance, the justice ministry sends us women who have to do community service for unpaid fines. We also put on activities in seniors homes. Our outreach spans generations. Certain aspects of the work are beneficial for memory.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mrs. Ntap, do you think things would be different if there was an endowment fund? Right now, departmental envelopes are compartmentalized. So a department in charge of social affairs will not give money to museums, for example.

I remember talking to the representatives of another very local museum, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. That museum is located right next to a major shipyard belonging to Irving Shipbuilding. I asked them whether the shipyard helped them financially to stress the importance of shipbuilding.

In your case, one would imagine a business or a department could support you. Do you think an endowment fund would be an opportunity to seek perhaps not departmental funds, but at least funding from private sponsors?

Anyone can answer my question.

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

Absolutely. I think that is the exercise that needs to be done. Both large companies and local companies have a social responsibility. Policies are also needed to support local initiatives that emphasize a common heritage. In my case, it is the notion of “common” that makes me flip out.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Flip out?

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

But of course, it's clear. It is a common good; it is our history, our heritage. I feel that much is being said about personal histories and stories, but we are forgetting about preservation and the transfer of information. That does take a minimum amount of charge being taken.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Thank you, Mr. Nantel.

Ms. Dhillon, you have seven minutes.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank all the witnesses for being here today.

Mrs. Ntap, we can see and feel your passion.

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

It's good that I am radiating it.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Yes, and we are grateful to you for that. We can see that you have worked with all your heart to ensure that your museum can teach people about history.

I have a few questions for you. What would you do with the funding? What kind of projects would you like to present to those who come visit your museum?

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

In 2009, we developed a business plan, which I am following, even though the money is still not forthcoming. Nothing has changed, and the vision has remained the same. We want to continue doing what we are already doing, despite the lack of funding. I'm talking about things like social reintegration and workshops in seniors residences. I cannot imagine creating a museum that people do not feel belongs to them. It is public first, and everything else after. We have to think about sustainability. Work must be done to create that link, and we are putting the public at the heart of the institution.

The funding will not be used to build facilities. Yes, we have a building project. That said, we purchases 16,000 square feet of land, and we have no mortgage because people managed to pay it in cash.

That charge-taking must come from the public. Funding is not the only thing that matters, although it does matter for hiring professionals or setting up leadership training programs for women to help them reach decision-making positions. Since 2008, we have already been doing everything I just talked about, without the funds needed. We visit seniors residences. The majority of seniors who participate in our activities are women.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Do you also encourage men to participate?

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

Of course, we like men. We have nothing against them; we like them a lot.

We are all engaged in this exercise. When we go to those residences, we do it for free. In exchange, we film them, we get their testimony and gather memories. It's free. It's amazing.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

I think that everyone here is very impressed by you.

Have you ever worked with other museums and other women's organizations from outside Quebec, from elsewhere in Canada?

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

Yes. For example, a lady from Alberta started a small group. The city loaned her a space to start a women's arts museum. We know about this because I am the vice-president of the international association of women's museums. Another lady contacted us because she wanted to establish a women's museum in Vancouver. We encourage them and we keep abreast of what is happening, but visibility....

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Do those people provide you with assistance or are you doing it alone?

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

Are you talking about the association of women's museums?

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Yes.

[Lydie Olga Ntap]

It's about training. In 2024, our museum will host the international congress of the association of women's museums. So there is some scientific work involved, as well as broadcasting and visibility. On International Museum Day, we are very active through our hashtag #IAWM. We do it on social networks and it is coordinated. There is a mouvement and an energy that helps people discover the existence of women's museums.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

That's great, thank you very much.

My next question is for Mr....

[Josh Basseches]

Basseches.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Basseches, sorry about that.

You spoke very eloquently about the importance of museums. You brought home the point why museums are needed in our society.

Can you explain how the ROM became such a successful museum? How can museums like Musée de la Femme also benefit from your experience and expertise to help them even further bring such an important matter to light.

[Josh Basseches]

On the last point, I do think there's a lot of collegiality in the museum sector and with museums of different sizes. There are ways in which museums with different kinds of capacities can partner or collaborate with each other, or even, as I mentioned, use mentoring staff to staff. There can be ways in which an institution like the ROM or some of the other important institutions in the country can be supportive of their colleague museums, which we are.

In terms of your initial question, I'll focus on the last one. I mentioned in my brief remarks that the museum has seen a nearly 50% increase in attendance over just the last three-plus years. That, to me, has to do with our refocusing—and this was the point of my observation—from only the very important activities of collecting, conserving, and presenting to doing that very much with a mind toward what it is that the people we engage with want to see, need to see, and what matters to their lives. I talked about the need to engage people's hearts and not just their minds. There is a deep and very significant need in these complicated times that we're living in for people to have the opportunity to go into spaces that give them a sense of their place in the world, using the word I used, “empathy”.

The short answer is that we have redoubled and refocused our efforts to say how we can be a civic hub, how we can focus our activities outward. As one museum theorist said, museums need to stop being only about something but being for someone. I think that very much supports the observations of my colleagues, and that's what has allowed us to have a lot of success in recent years.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Would anyone else like to add anything in the last 30 seconds?